Space Weather: Improvement of Ionospheric Predictions

研究人员使用国际参考电离层(IRI)模型改进了顶部电子密度和离子组成的规格。他们研究了先前确定的上部模式参数的全球和时间变化，根据世界时、当地时间、季节、太阳周期、磁活动以及地理和地磁坐标建立了这些变化的函数描述。利用非相干散射数据，他们研究了F峰附近的轮廓形状，这是将新的顶部模型与IRI中应用的F峰模型合并所必需的活动。此外，他们还研究了特征上部离子组成参数的全球和时间变化模式；如上跃迁高度，其中离子气体由轻离子和原子氧离子的相等部分组成，以及电离氦和电离氢的比率。这些系统评估的最终目标是确定在不同海拔地区和基本物理条件下最具影响力的参数。

The investigators improve specification of the topside electron density and ion composition, using the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model. Investigating the global and temporal variations of previously determined topside model parameters, they establish a functional description of these variations in terms of universal time, local time, season, solar cycle, magnetic activity and geographic and geomagnetic coordinates. Using incoherent scatter data, they investigate the profile shape near the F peak, an activity necessary in merging the new topside model with F peak models applied in IRI. In addition, they study global and temporal variation patterns of characteristic topside ion composition parameters; like the upper transition height, where ion gas consists to equal parts of light ions and atomic oxygen ions, and the ratio of ionized helium to ionized hydrogen. The ultimate goal of these systematic evaluations is to establish parameters that are most influential in different altitude regimes and the underlying physics.